A DC-to-DC converter receives one DC voltage as an input and generates another DC voltage as an output. Many DC-to-DC converters function by applying a DC voltage across an inductor or transformer for a short period of time, resulting in energy storage, followed by removal or switching out of the applied DC voltage, which causes the stored energy to be transferred to the output. The timing of the switching of the DC-to-DC converter is controlled to regulate the output voltage as necessary. When operating in a boost mode, the DC-to-DC converter generates an output voltage that is higher than the input voltage. When operating in the buck mode, the DC-to-DC converter generates an output voltage that is less than or equal to the input voltage.
Although the prior art contains many different DC-to-DC converter configurations, the DC-to-DC converter disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,106,605 is representative. This particular DC-to-DC converter uses snubber capacitors across two of its output diodes. During operation of this DC-to-DC converter, the energy stored in these snubber capacitors may result in undesirable switching loss.